Jon's Tale
by Nairoci
Summary: Set in the realm of Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns, this is the tale of Jon. A man who grew up knowing he was something more than he was, this is the tale of a man dedicated to removing the taint of the Ceyah from the land.
1. Chapter 1

Kyle Roahrig – "Nairoci"

"**Jon's Tale" – Chapter One**

My name is Jon. Along with my childhood friends Jace, Kate, and Ray, we have decided to oppose the shadow in our village. We have chosen thus because we are on no records, official or otherwise. Why, we do not know, as we all remember growing up here in Gladehaven. We remember playing at Pop's home, playing hero and bandit in the yard. Pop was a great man. He passed on last winter though, which merely fueled our hatred of the Shadow. He died because the Shadow took all the extra food in our village, for two reasons. For them, the more important of the two was probably to keep us weak, to see that we didn't have the strength to rebel. That the food could be eaten by their human mercenaries and other traitors was probably just a side benefit.

The four of us always seemed to have plenty of food though. It wasn't until after his death that we learned why. He had been giving us most of his food for a long time, keeping just enough for himself to keep going.

Pop was not actually our father. A grizzled veteran loved by the town, he had no children of his own. He adopted the four of us when we were very little, only three or four, after he found us alone in a burned out building during his last battle.

While raising us, he made sure to instill certain virtues in us. Among them being courage, loyalty, and a sense of justice and compassion. He also trained all of us in the art of war, telling us it was a dangerous world and that we needed to know how to defend ourselves.

I took Pop's advice to heart, and spent nearly all my free time training. Wether working out, building up my endurance, or beating on a wooden dummy in the barn, my friends always teased me and said I was obsessed. I told only Ray why however. Small and slight of build, Ray had always been my closest friend. When I told her of my dreams, she laughed at first. Then she saw the look on my face and could tell I wasn't joking.

I told her of my nightmares, where hordes of the living dead swarmed all over the land. I told her of dreams where beacons of light were slowly devoured by the blackest night. I told her of my nightmares of my death. Those were always the same. A pale, gaunt man with white hair and hawkish features always stood above me, always held a sword to my throat. Always held me down with his foot while he pulled his blade back. Always he shoved it into my chest, and always the pain woke me. Ray paled herself when I told her of those. After that, she was always there when I needed her. From that day on, whenever the nightmares woke me, Ray was there. She would soothe me, put me back to sleep, and I would be free of the dreams for the night.

For those reasons I trained without cease. Even household chores became training when approached a certain way. A simple trip to gather wood became a test of endurance. I went deep into the forest, bundled large amounts of wood together, and strapped it to my back. I then jogged home, up the steepest paths I could find, dodged in and out of trees, and then went home to practice with my homemade mace. Little more than a sturdy branch with a large rock tied to it, it nevertheless worked rather well against the straw dummies I made.

Each of us ended up training with a different weapon. Jace, a man who looked so much like me that even we assumed we were brothers, took up the sword…well, it would have been a sword, but right now it was made out of carved wood. Though sharpened as much as possible, it did not cut well, but was useful more as a club than anything else.

Kate, our tall, blond, precocious friend took up the bow. That surprised the rest of us because the bow is traditionally a difficult weapon to learn, and yet Kate never practiced. She mastered it quickly, spending only a little time in the morning practicing, and spending the rest of the day pestering the rest of us into playing hide and seek with her, which she always won. No matter how often and thoroughly we searched for her golden locks among the trees, we never found her until it was time to go in.

Finally, Ray took up the art of the staff. While not really much of a weapon, it was good enough for her; and though she spent even less time practicing than Kate, neither me nor Pop ever really fussed about it. She was always so serious. Though she never said anything, I suspected she suffered from nightmares as well. I don't know where she found the inner strength to deal with them, but sometimes, late at night, I would glimpse her on her knees in her room, bathed in moonlight from her window, and I swear I heard her whispering.

Enough of our childhood. Pop's death convinced me that we could no longer sit on the sidelines and let the Ceyah do what they wanted in our home. The Ceyah and their "Shadow" had cost us the life of a dear friend of mine, a man who was like a father to the four of us. The sense of justice that Pop had instilled in me railed at the Ceyah and their actions, and I decided that I had to do something, and home was as good a place to start as any. Informing our group of my intentions, Ray invited herself along almost immediately. Of us all, her sense of compassion was probably the greatest, and she knew that if she did nothing that more would suffer and die as Pop did. Kate, whose courage extended well into the foolhardy area, nearly jumped at the chance to do something as dangerous as fight our oppressors. Finally, Jace's loyalty to our group won him over and he joined our planning as well. With the four of us together opposing the Shadow, there was no chance we could be stopped.

As this is my first fanfiction, I would appreciate any feedback both constructive and derogatory. For this intent my email address is 


	2. Chapter 2

Kyle Roahrig – "Nairoci"

"**Jon's Tale" – Chapter Two**

Our first order of business was to find out just how many of the Ceyah there were. The second was to attempt to find others in the village to help us in our plans. With a popular uprising, there would be no way for the Ceyah to hold onto the village.

The first proved to be fairly simple. Led by a commander named Dargaard, many of the Ceyah mercenaries were notorious drunks. Careful questions during one's drunken bout informed us that there were about two dozen mercenaries, and thankfully none of the undead horrors from my nightmares. Still, even two dozen seemed a bit much, considering our village numbered no more than fifty people.

Unfortunately, in all our careful searching, we found none who would actively aid us except the local blacksmith, and even his help was limited. He did fashion real weapons for Jace and I, but would not help with the fighting. Neither would anyone else in the village, though we _knew_ that most, if not all of the townsfolk hated the Ceyah occupation.

Our former lords, the Council, had turned a blind eye to our conquest, which caused us to hate them nearly as much as the Ceyah. With little help from the inside, and none from the outside, we could not survive a straight up fight with the mercenaries. I took well to the planning of our attack, and happen to think I did a pretty good job, all things considered. An innocent looking reconnaissance showed us that there were two guards posted at all times at their barracks, one at the front door, and one at the back. I decided that Kate would take out the guard in front, and have Jace take that guard's position to hopefully avoid the suspicion that an absent guard would bring. Kate would then take down the guard in back, though there was no need for me to stay there in his place, since if you made it to the back of the building, you were standing next to the door already, and anyone would be able to tell I didn't belong there from that close.

With no need for me at the back except to move the body, Ray and I would head into the barracks and put it to the torch, hoping that the smoke and fire would confuse the newly awoken mercenaries (they would be sleeping when we started the fire, but surely most would wake up soon after) and that we could dispatch them easily as they ran out the exits hoping to find safety. This plan would leave only the half-dozen guards that were on patrol in the middle of the night, as we would attack just a few hours before dawn. The timing of the attack would ensure that many of the guards had hangovers, and that others would be exhausted because they had just gone to bed a few hours before.

We put the plan into action the next morning, roughly two hours or so before dawn. We wore grey hunting leathers in the absence of real armor, the leather would at least slow most weapons and cushion the blows. After a short buzzing sound, the front guard fell without even a grunt, a feathered shaft quivering in his chest. Jace quickly ran up and moved the body off to the side of the building, behind some crates, and appropriated the guard's position at the door.

After watching that even, I ran around the building just in time to see the rear guard crumple to the ground, spitted on one of Kate's arrows. I quickly hid the corpse behind some bushes and Ray and I slowly crept inside.

With the first part of the plan having gone off without a hitch, I suppose what happened next was deserved. We were not halfway through the door into the main barracks room when we were confronted by Dargaard himself, who was an early riser. His look of shock evaporated with a thump as my mace came up and hit him square over his heart. Though I was sure he would not survive, his scream could be heard across the village. I shouted for Jace to come in, and then dove into the midst of the dozen or so sleepy mercenaries. The first three I struck, crushing flesh and bone, were not even armed. The rest however, had used those precious seconds to find their weapons and arm themselves. Knowing I was hopelessly outnumbered, I began to back off while parrying attacks. Relief shot through me as I saw Jace burst into the room. By the time they realized he was there, he had already cut two down from behind, leaving the other seven sandwiched between us. They did not seem too worried though, and split into groups of three and four, with the larger heading for Jace. Their mistake. I fought through my three like lightning, parrying the first blow and crushing the man's side. After dodging the next attack I struck another man full in the face with a left-handed roundhouse, and used my momentum to spin around and give my next blow that much more strength. That blow from my mace struck the third man in the head, crushing his skull like an eggshell and dropping him to the ground.

All of a sudden, a searing pain in my side erupted, causing me to drop my weapon and fall to the ground. The merc I'd punched was not as disabled as I'd thought, and had stabbed me right in the side. I didn't think anything vital had been hit, but I didn't really have time to worry about it either. The merc was coming to finish me off. Though I stayed silent, I made a big show of holding my side and rolling around. When he came to spit me on his blade, I lashed out with both of my legs, catching him solidly in the knee. Though I'm sure his knee snapped, I am equally sure that the blow from Ray's staff to the merc's head is what killed him.

By the time I finally got up, I realized the fight was over. Jace had gotten two of the mercenaries before Ray showed up, and as soon as Ray got there she ambushed another. As the two squared off against each other, Jace dispatched his final enemy and he and Ray overwhelmed her opponent, putting him down with wounds all over his body. Knowing there were still more outside, we feared for Kate and rushed out of the building to help her.

We needn't have worried. As soon as we got outside we noticed a half dozen mercenaries already on the ground, with yet another quickly joining them as we arrived. The last two realized they didn't stand a chance, and promptly surrendered. It appeared that while we were inside, Kate had corralled the mercs and shot at them from so many different directions that the prisoners swore we had a company of archers (a dozen) that we just weren't admitting to having. I was not around to interrogate them though. After they surrendered and my adrenaline level dropped, my legs gave out due to the loss of blood. My wound was much more serious than I had thought. Though organs were not hit, the wound was very deep, and would not stop bleeding.

As I lay on the ground, staring at the sky, I thought about just how wrong my nightmares had been. The pale hawk-man of my horrors was nowhere to be seen. Instead I would die of a flesh wound in my own town, killed by some nameless merc whose body currently decorated the floor of his barracks. As I lay there, silently cursing my nightmares, Ray walked over to me and knelt at my side. She lay her tiny hands upon my wound and started whispering. I tried to tell her that I was dying, and that she should not mourn me, but I could no longer form words. I desperately wanted to tell her I loved her, and panicked when I couldn't, but suddenly felt very relaxed and peaceful; I had always heard that happened right before you died, yet I could not worry about that now.

At the edges of my vision, a blue light began softly shining from my wound, slowly expanding until all I could see was that soft, pulsing blue glow. After a few seconds of that, even the glow faded to black as I lost consciousness.

When next I opened my eyes, I woke with a panic. I looked frantically around, sure that I was dead and in the afterlife. I calmed down when I recognized Ray, sleeping in a chair next to my bed. Somehow sensing I was up; she quickly awoke, and stared at me for a second. Then with a squeal, and so much glee on her face that I was suddenly embarrassed, she ran over and tackled me back onto my bed. I lay there, with her clinging to me like a particularly comfortable set of clothes, and could not help but smile. With her head buried in my chest, I put my arms around her and just held her.

Knowing that Jace and Kate were surely in the building too, and also that they were alerted to my being awake with Ray's shout and dive, it still took several minutes for them to come in, and I knew it was Jace who prevented Kate from just barging in, and I felt indebted to him for that.

With Kate's purposeful cough, my smile got only larger, though I reluctantly released Ray. Wearing a sheepish grin of her own, Ray unwound herself from me and sat on the edge of the bed. Feeling cold without her pressed against me, I sat up myself. After a few seconds I became self-conscious when no one said anything. Confused, I began thinking about why even Kate would stay silent, when I realized something I had not had a chance to think of earlier.

I knew who I was.

As this is my first fanfiction, I would appreciate any feedback both constructive and derogatory. For this intent my email address is 


	3. Chapter 3

Kyle Roahrig

"**Jon's Tale" – Chapter Three**

My name is Jonathon Javidan, and I remember. I remember a time before the Ceyah, hundreds, perhaps thousands of years ago. I remember my wife, Rachel, and how we would walk the beach during that time of peace; with nothing but the sounds of the ocean for miles. We were carefree, confident that our world was perfect.

I remember when Kohan were cast from our ranks, their dreams and ambitions for power burning too brightly for our Council. I remember thinking that we may have made a mistake with a few of them. The men who took masks, and gave themselves the names Melchior and Sijansur, were on the fringe edge of our rejects; though not reedy or particularly ambitious, Melchior was very independent and we took the opportunity to clear him out and lump him in with the others. At this outrage, his brother Sijansur went with him out of loyalty, and disgust with our actions.

I remember when I heard that the outcasts had named themselves Ceyah, and had begun worshipping Ahriman and the Shadow. I heard that they had raised armies to punish us for casting them out. We of the Council raised a vast army, the Sepah Javidan, to confront them, and defend what was ours. We placed my cousin, Darius Javidan, in command of the army sure that he would bring us victory. We burned with righteous fire, each and every one of us, appalled that these "Ceyah" would threaten our people.

I remember how we failed. During a night that began like any other, my cousin was murdered by his wife Roxanna, who took the name Vashti and fled to the Ceyah. That very night, what became known as the Cataclysm struck. Flaming rocks, ranging in size from small stones to large boulders, rained from the sky, destroying buildings, people. Great chasms in the earth opened up, swallowing portions of our army, only to close moments later with no evidence of them. All that night and the next day this went on, until it finally stopped just before nightfall. Many of our greatest cities lay in ruin. Roughly half of the Sepah Javidan had been crushed by the boulders or swallowed by the earth; much of the rest had run off and scattered, unwilling to attempt to fight the supernatural.

With Darius dead and his amulet missing, we named Ghalen Mordecei as the new head of the Sepah Javidan, and I was named second-in-command. I held out little hope, however. Though Ghalen was a superior warrior, he did not have the patience required for either strategy or tactics. My cousin Jamsheed would have been a much better choice, but he had been missing when the issue had been decided.

I remember looking upon the hordes that the Ceyah had assembled. Rank after rank of undead abominations stood to oppose us, with renegade men that the Ceyah had convinced to fight at their side. I knew then that we had not fully acquitted our duties, just from the fact that men were taken in by the Ceyah. Even the renegade men outnumbered what we had left. A few companies of grenadiers here, a legion of swordsmen there, all of our forces were now battered and wounded; even the dragoons were reduced to fighting on foot due to the lack of mounts.

I remember the last of our heroes walking among the men that were left. Naava Daishan healing, Garudan Payne inspiring, all were called to the front. I remember my own company of swordsmen, dedicated men I had trained since birth, who had somehow all managed to survive the cataclysm. I spoke with them all, referring to each by name, telling them of the glorious deeds we would perform that day, and of the lifetime of peace we would have when we won. I remember the smiles on their faces, and their looks of confidence. I do not know how I managed to inspire them thus; I did not believe the words myself. I knew we would not win, that our men would die; our Kohan would be sent to the Great Dream only to be brought back later when things were even direr.

Though that is all I can remember now, I know that there is more. I feel as if there is so much of my life missing, and I am sure that one day I will remember the rest. For now, I know my duty, and that is enough. I must travel to the far corner of the Javidan Plains, into the Wastes. I know that somewhere there I will find my cousin Darius' amulet.

Together we must raise armies and unite the Kohan, and then we will teach the Ceyah what it is like to be hunted.

As this is my first fanfiction, I would appreciate any feedback both constructive and derogatory. For this intent my email address is 


	4. Chapter 4

Kyle Roahrig

"**Jon's Tale" – Chapter Four**

"It is time to go my brother; these people have sheltered us for too long as it is."

At the sound of Jason's voice I started. I had been lying on the ground outside our home, just staring at the stars. Staring, and trying to bury my worries. It didn't work; it never worked. Yet I keep trying, hoping that one day these dark times would be naught but memory.

I knew he was right, and I wanted to go too. Something inside me though, craved the safety I had known here, and would never know again.

"I know we must go Jason," I said quietly, "but I am reluctant to leave. This has been home for several years now."

Sighing to myself, I came to a decision. "We will leave at first light. We must head south to Beckett's Pass, where Sergeant McCall hid our equipment so many years ago. We will need it in the days ahead."

From there we would head east, across the Javidan Plains. Far to the east, sandwiched between the Gauri Highlands and the Sakeri Valley lay the Wastes. Somewhere in those Creator-forsaken lands we would find Darius' amulet. I did not tell any of my companions, not even my wife how I knew it would be there. After Darius' death before the Cataclysm, Jamsheed and I realized there was no way Darius would regain his memory before the Ceyah attacked. Without his memories and insights, Darius could not be the general we needed.

And so we sent his amulet into hiding. Entrusting both the amulet and Darius' defense to Eben Baruch, we sent him off to the wastes until we had the time necessary to awaken him and his memories returned.

I spent that night in restless slumber, plagued by dreams I could not understand. I saw Darius standing next to Eben in a small village surrounded by a forest.

_We cannot stay here milord, these rhaksha beasts are getting worse. We must warn the other villages._

_I know well your opinion my friend, but these people must be trained to defend themselves in case the rhaksha attack while we're gone. I cannot just abandon them when they need my help._

Though I heard no words, I knew exactly what they were saying, but not what they were talking about. _Rhaksha? What in the name of the Creator are Rhaksha?_

With my wife being as spiritual as she was, I was forced to admit to myself that this could be a vision. _But of the future? The past?_ I could not worry about it now, but I knew the answer would be important.

I hoped it was not a vision of the present. There were no forests anywhere near the Wastes. Not only that, but while I entrusted Eben with the amulet's care, I was frightened of the advice he might give. He was a member of the Council through and through, and may manage to talk Darius into inaction. I would just have to hope for the best, carry on with my plans, and put my worries behind me.

At daybreak the next morning we set out southward. On newly acquired horses laden with food, water, and extra clothing we rode towards the supply cache set up by the man we had known as "Pop" for several years, but who we now knew to be Sergeant McCall, a Royalist soldier assigned to protect us until we regained our memories. In the cache would be all the equipment we would need to travel across Khaldun, including weapons, armor, and protective clothing. With wards and charms worked into them by the greatest mages of the Royalist faction, this equipment should have been more than enough to keep us safe. Of course, seeing as how we were newly awakened from the Great Dream, I knew that just because we should have been safe didn't mean we actually would be.

The cache was roughly 20 miles outside of town, and took an entire day to ride there at a leisurely pace. Buried under a large oak tree we would find four crates, one for each of us. Unfortunately since it had taken all day to get there, we could not see to dig as night came. So we set camp. Drawing out thick blankets to protect ourselves from the elements, I set watch for the night. Caitlynn would have the first watch, so that she could have uninterrupted sleep. She got cranky when awakened in the middle of the night, and since she had quite a temper, this was just the easiest solution. Since Rachel's clerical skills required much more rest and concentration than either myself or Jason, she would take the last watch, so that she would also have uninterrupted sleep. Jason would take the second watch, while I took the third watch myself. This way I could awaken my wife with a kiss without an audience.

With Caitlynn watching over us, I felt safe going to sleep. Unfortunately my mind did not agree and I again had another strange dream….or vision. I saw a strangely shaped man who closely resembled these filthy beasts surrounding him, though they only came up to his waist. With grey skin, long arms whose claws nearly touched the ground, and a canine mouth filled with sharp teeth, these beasts were obviously feral, though they almost seemed to worship the man-thing.

Paying close attention to this strange vision, I noticed gold amulets on the floor and wondered what they were for. All of a sudden one of the little beasts fell with a green flash I somehow knew was from a ranger arrow. At the same time Darius came running in, sword flashing, eviscerating the horrible little beasts. Blood seemed to follow his sword like a red streak hanging in the air. Dozens of armed men wearing a mix of leather and chain armors quickly followed him in, their own swords slashing and stabbing. Against these numbers even the large man-thing fell quickly, facing a half-company of men and still accounting for half of them before falling to their numbers.

The man-thing's death broke the order of the remaining beasts and they leaped at the nearest man, and mostly were run through though not without casualties. When the last of the beasts fell, there were roughly two dozen of the littering the ground in pieces, including the man-thing. Lying among them were also a full dozen or more of the men.

_It was a costly victory my friend, but Amon Koth has been defeated._ With that Eben finally entered the room, walking over to Darius.

_Yes it was, but finally the people can sleep soundly, knowing that River's End is free of the Rhaksha threat._

_River's End?_, I thought, _that's nowhere near the Wastes! Eben and I are going to have a talk when I find him…_

Indeed, River's End was nearly 300 miles further south from where we were now, nestled between the Crystal River that sheltered the Haroun, and the Heartland Forrest to the north.

With that thought I awoke from my dream in a cold sweat, but full of purpose. I knew we could not wait until morning to get our gear; we would have to get it in the dark.

Darius was waiting.


	5. Chapter 5

Kyle Roahrig

"**Jon's Tale" – Chapter Five**

Recovering quickly from the sleep-induced lethargy, I began moving with purpose. The first thing I noticed was how little time had passed. Caitlynn was still on her watch.

"I need you to do me and favor and not ask any questions," I told her," I need you to build a fire near where we'll be digging. We're going to need to see while we dig tonight."

She looked at me as if I were crazy, but apparently trusted me enough to just shrug her shoulders and set off on her task. While se set about gathering wood, I went to Jason and gave him a gentle shake. "Jason," I said softly, "I need you awake. We'll be digging tonight and leaving as soon as we have what is ours."

He slowly blinked his eyes open and looked at me. "Why?" he asked.

"We do not have time for questions right now brother," I told him,"I will explain while we dig." At this he also shrugged, then walked off to get the shovels we'd brought with us.

I then walked over and knelt beside my wife, who was starting to stir because of the noise we were making. "What is going on Jonathon?" she asked me. Looking around quickly, I lowered my voice and told her, "I know where Darius is, and it's close; much closer than the Wastes." She did not even ask how I knew. A deeply spiritual person, she had a fairly good idea. She just gave me a knowing look, and I could feel my face getting hot. She only asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to water down the horses and prepare them for a long, fast journey. We will probably need to get new horses at some point, but I would like to be able to put that off."

With a nod she was off on her task. I then walked over to where Caitlynn had a decent sized fire going, and Jason was already hard at work digging. "Caitlynn, I need you to scout around, see if there is anyone nearby that would notice our work."

Caitlynn was gone before I had finished my sentence, but I knew she'd heard me. I also knew that she was already cranky because she was tired, and that I would have to tread carefully to keep from making her even angrier at me than she already was.

Grabbing a shovel, I walked over to Jason and began digging myself. "Darius is nearby," I told him while we worked. Jason nearly dropped his shovel at that, and stared at me for a good minute or so before he managed to croak, "How?"

"You would not believe me if I told you brother," I said, "So I am asking you instead to trust me. Darius has already been awakened, and is near River's End."

"River's End?" he gasped, "but that's…," he trailed off.

"I know. We're going to need to have a good long talk with Eben Baruch, and find out why he violated our commands," I told him. _I only hope he hasn't filled Darius' head with garbage before we get there._

What could be worse than a man touted as Khaldun's savior choosing inaction? I could not think of anything then, and sincerely hoped I would never find out.

After my revelation, Jason began to dig even faster. Off all the Kohan, I may have had the most mutual respect with Darius, but Jason treated him like the second coming of the Creator. I can understand Jason's feelings though, since before the Cataclysm Darius had always played a central role in Kohan society. After the Cataclysm, knowing that Darius was not 'awake' filled our mortal soldiers with dread, though those Javidans who had sent his amulet off were confident, because even if we failed, one day Darius could return and set things right.

In what seemed like no time at all, we had the crates unearthed. Calling the others over we used the shovels to open the tops of the crates, which had been nailed shut years ago. We all seemed to know whose crate was whose, without even looking in them.

Reverently reaching into mine, I pulled out a platemail breastplate that appeared black in the firelight, but what I knew was actually a deep midnight blue. As soon as I touched it I saw the image of the hawk-faced man standing above me, with his sword pointed at my chest. For a second I wondered if it was a vision or a memory, whether he was going to kill me or whether he already had. Then I decided it just didn't matter. Slowly putting it aside, I glanced around at the others. Caitlynn was stroking a jet black bow, and appeared to be coming into some memories of her own. Jason was holding twin short-bladed falchions, and had the largest, stupidest grin on his face that I'd ever seen. What made it funny to watch is that Jason usually kept such a tight reign on his emotions. I'd heard rumors that he had smiled before, even told a joke or two in the last thousand years or so, but this was the first I'd seen in, literally, Ages.

Moving along, I saw that Rachel had already donned the blindingly white cleric's robe she preferred. She also held a crystal staff, with an enlarged tip shaped like a ball, roughly twice as wide as the rest of the staff. Impossibly, it seemed to be made all out of the same piece of crystal, and you could almost see the magic pulsing off of it.

Turning my attention back to my own crate, I reach in and laid the rest of my armor next to the breastplate. I then pulled out a large metal kite shield, dyed the same dark color as my armor. I then came to what I had been looking for; my mace.

With wicked looking spikes coming out of it in all directions, it looking deadly, but was even more so than it looked. Long ago a spell had been working into it by Roxanna Javidan; before she betrayed us. Back then she was the most powerful mage of that age, a suitable bride for a man like Darius. The spell she had cast on the mace was nothing short of magnificent. During battle, the mace would flare like a torch, yet I would not feel the heat. My opponents however, if they were not magically protected from fire themselves, would feel the full brunt of the spell. Usually they fell away with a smoking crater where I'd hit them, but the mace showed me memories of mine where a few people had actually burst into flame.

Under my equipment was a large bag of gold coins, and there were probably enough there to outfit a company or two. It would certainly come in handy on our trip south, as we would definitely have to buy new mounts a few times, and we'd nearly exhausted our small supply of money just getting these four. Now we would not have to rely on people's generosity towards Kohan to keep traveling.

Next to the bag of money was a gold necklace, with my amulet hung upon it. Carefully, reverently, I took the amulet out of the chest, and slowly lowered the chain around my neck. Blinded by the resulting flash of light, I cried out and fell to the ground. In the light were brief flashed of images. Stills from my life flashed before me, but I was not afraid. This was not the cliché of my death, where my life flashes before my eyes. Instead it was my curse, and my entire life flashed before me. From when the Creator brought me into being until today, I remembered everything I have ever done, everything I've said, everything I've thought, and everything I've believed.

For the first time in years, I felt as if everything was how it should be.


	6. Chapter 6

Kyle Roahrig

"**Jon's Tale" – Chapter Six**

I am now myself. I am the person I was, the person I will be, the person I am meant to be. I am a Kohan. I have been the leader of the Royalists since the day we split from the Council. I remember that day well. Finally too disgusted with the Council's inaction, many of my brethren split off to defend the people ourselves. That is the basis of our group; the protection of those we serve. Years before that, those now called Nationalist split off from the Council. They were not concerned with the people however, but with fighting the Ceyah and the Shadow, in all its forms. They believed the purpose of the people was to help them combat the Shadow. Many mortals agreed with them, and the Nationalists rarely lack for recruits.

I believe that we have the right of it though. Yes, it is our duty to fight the Shadow, but not out of revenge or outrage. We must fight to protect our loved ones from the hatred and violence of the Shadow, and from its pawns, the Ceyah. Working together with the mortals, we had built some of the most prosperous cities on Khaldun. Every last one now lies in ruin. Recognizing the threat of Kohan and mortal working hand in hand, the Ceyah now hunt us even more than the Nationalists.

We have been forced to live in hiding for years. To aid us in this, years ago I started a policy that newly awakened Kohan live without being told that they were Kohan. The policy formed bonds with the mortals, and few were the Kohan who came out of it without the will to fight and defend those they knew. I can admit I took a near perverse pleasure in doing this to council Kohan who we awakened. We gained several followers by opening their eyes in such a way. The main problem with the Council is that they place themselves above the mortals, and yet know little about them.

None were exempt from this policy, not even myself, which brought me to where I am now. Blinded by light, deafened by memory, and full of purpose and hope.

Lying on that cold ground, I remembered everything. This was the true 'Curse of the Kohan.' Not awakening without memories, but never being able to forget. I remember each time I've died, every time I have watched my wife die before my eyes, and it nearly breaks me. But now things are different, now I have hope. Darius is waiting. Beneath his banner I envisioned us uniting the Kohan, even the complacent Council, and finally driving back the hordes of darkness.

I gradually realized I could see, and that none of my companions were where they had been. Jason leaned heavily upon a tree, while my wife, Rachel, prayed nearby on her knees. Of Caitlynn, I saw no sign. That did not worry me though, one of her habits was to never show any form of weakness in front of other people, not even her closest friends.

Letting the others recover on their own, I began to strap on the various pieces of my armor. Without a squire it was a little bit difficult, but I'd gotten used to it. The only piece I really had trouble with was the breastplate, but before I even heard her, I felt Rachel's small hands helping me with the straps.

While we worked, Caitlynn came back and began helping Jason into his own armor. While his studded leather was not as complicated as my platemail, it was still enough that one could not easily do it alone. Caitlynn was also already changed. She had to have changed into her padded green hunting leathers while she was gone. I have the feeling I would have easily noticed in the blonde beauty had changed within sight.

When Rachel and I were done getting me dressed, I asked her to finish helping Jason and send Caitlynn over to me. When she arrived, I began explaining why we were leaving so early. Fending off her constant questions, I explained about my visions, and about how close Darius was.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" she asked.

"Just look at how many questions you've asked me so far," I told her, "there was no time to answer them earlier."

"You know I do not like being ordered around," she said, "that's one of the reasons the Council banished me." Of all of us, Caitlynn was the only one who had not left the Council by choice.

"Caitlynn, you were found out spying on the Council leaders, and passing that information to the Nationalist; that's why they banished you."

"I was NOT spying, and I was not sending information to the Nationalists, "she hissed at me, "What I overheard was gossip and I only told that to my sister!"

It was about this time that I realized she had never spoken to anyone about this, not even Jason. "That 'gossip' was information about how the Council was going to deal with the Nationalists and your sister is Sofiya Fairfax, the leader of all the Nationalists. Your impulse to spy for you sister nearly led to a civil war, and only when we broke from the council ourselves was that situation fully defused. Your reckless actions nearly cost us everything we had worked towards for a thousand years, the defeat of the Shadow and the stewardship of those who look to us for hope."

I knew I had scored deep with that as she visible flinched and her lower lip began to tremble. "I know what I did was reckless and impulsive Jonathon," she whispered hoarsely, "but what else was I to do? Should I have let the Council declare my sister rogue? She is the only family I have left."

She appeared near tears, and I knew that I may have gone too far. Before the Cataclysm, her husband willingly joined the Ceyah. His name had been Jonas Teramun, though he goes by another now. The only thing that kept my friend going was the hope that one day we might capture his amulet and perform a cleansing. I decided right then and there I would make it a priority to do just that, for Caitlynn's sake; I owed her that much at least.

"I'm sorry Kate, I should not have said that," I told her, and it was true. I had stepped over the line for no reason at all. _Some leader I am._

With that, to even my astonishment, she collapsed into me and began weeping. As I held her I looked up and saw a very puzzled look on Jason's face, and yet another knowing smile on my wife's. I could feel my face burning and cursed how Ray could always make me feel embarrassed. _Some leader I am, making my friends cry and blushing like a schoolboy whenever my wife gives me a funny look._

"I…I'm sorry Jo…John…I was wrong…my ac…actions cou…ould have cost so…so many lives…" Kate sobbed into my shoulder.

Utterly perplexed with this situation (I could not remember the last time I had even won an argument, let alone against a woman, and let alone against Kate), I did the only thing I could think of. I treated her like a little child. "Shhh…don't worry Kate. Everything's ok. Nobody died. In fact, you may have helped our cause."

She stared up at me with a very confused look, eyes swollen, and tears still dripping down her face. "Just think," I told her, "without what you did we would not be at the point we're at today. Besides, it could have been worse. You could have been telling Sofiya real secrets, like how I like my eggs cooked," I told her with a broad grin on my face.

With her tears broken by laughter she only smiled and held me tighter. "Thank you," she said. As she slowly backed away, head bowed down, I noticed both Jason and Rachel struggling to contain laughter. "What are you two looking at?" I asked, "Haven't you ever seen two people discuss eggs before?"

Chuckling and shaking his head, Jason left to ready his horse for our journey while Rachel walked over and gave me a peck on the cheek. "That was very nice what you did for her Jonathon, just don't get too used to another woman's arms around you or you won't be feeling mine." She walked off laughing, heading for her horse as well.

_Great, _I thought, _just what I need, another way for my wife to tease me. _Compared to that, battling the Shadow was almost welcome.


	7. Chapter 7

Kyle Roahrig

"**Jon's Tale" – Chapter Seven**

Following the others to the horses I began thinking of the journey we were about to undertake. We were to travel to River's End, some hundred or so miles to the south, and we would need to travel quickly. I am worried, though not about the journey itself, any bandits or such rubbish we meet along the way will surely present little of a challenge. Instead I am worried about what we will find at our destination. I worry about whether or not Khaldun's greatest hope will still be there, and whether he will make the decision to take the war to the Ceyah. Though many would find that last worry ridiculous (after all, of course Darius Javidan would fight the Ceyah), what those people do not know that I do is that since the Cataclysm, Darius has been watched and guarded by Eben Baruch, a pacifistic ranger who is the epitome of Council virtues; He is brilliant, yet indecisive, a great warrior who abhors fighting. He is the perfect example of the Council's contradictory nature.

Knowing that I could change nothing in the past, I began saddling my horse. Looking around at my companions, I wondered at how they would fare should Darius join Eben in pacifism.

Jason would be devastated; there is no debate about that. Having looked up to Darius his entire enchanted life, he tended to put Darius on a high pedestal and emulate him. Even his weapons closely mirrored Darius'. Of course, Jason's were a little bit shorter because Jason liked his fights up-close and personal, and from what I remember about Darius, he cares little about the actual fight; just the results and the aftermath.

Caitlynn would survive easily. Fiercely independent, yet completely loyal to her friends, she cared little for those she considered outsiders. If I were to be completely honest, she probably would not give a damn about Darius if the rest of us were not so intent on finding him. I had strong suspicions that if Darius were still missing, dead, or a pacifist, Kate would not care in the least.

My wife, Rachel, I believe would be disappointed, though not much else. She is a very strong person mentally, emotionally, and especially spiritually. Her faith in the Creator's plan will get her through just about anything. She also fully believes and supports the path we Royalists have taken, and if we ever managed to find Darius, she would be a welcome influence on him.

As for myself, I do not have a choice. I will be forced to keep going because I can not allow myself to do anything less. Whatever honor I have not bargained away to keep the Royalist dreams alive would not allow me to stop. My duty and responsibilities would demand that I not stop. On top of all that, my wife would not let me stop either. So again, I have no choice.

I would not want to stop though. My own visions, those of a land free of the Ceyah, with the Kohan both watching over and bearing responsibility for the mortals, are something that I would not be able to attain by quitting. Having Darius with us would make it much easier to attain, but even without him I will continue working to realize my goal. That is what leaders do, and I believe that I am a leader.

Finishing with the saddle, I turned to Rachel and helped her up onto her horse. I knew better than to try and help Kate up, the last time I tried it took a week for the swelling to go down, so I turned back to my own horse and swung myself into the saddle.

With a deep breath to stave off the enormity of our task, I softly uttered, "Let's be on our way."

When we finally stopped for the night, we had traveled more than half the distance to River's End. In a small, yet bustling town named Ithica we found food and shelter, not to mention fresh horses. We had already bought horses twice now, and these were clearly worn out; they would not be ready to ride in the morning.

Checking into our rooms at an inn called the King's Jewel, I was more than slightly disappointed at the way we had to split the rooms. Jason and I would take one, with Rachel and Kate in the other. This was actually both a blessing and a curse. It was bad because I looked forward to spending time alone with my wife, to comfort her and ease whatever fears she may have. It was good for nearly the same reason; it would've been the first time that Ray and I were unsupervised, and I would not have bet a single gold piece that we'd gotten any sleep. We'll need our rest for tomorrow.

Before night fell I began looking around for a place I could buy food for the 'morrow. Walking throughout the town I noticed an odd duality. The Ceyah had not yet taken this town, and from some of the soldiers walking around I could tell the people were capable of defending themselves; yet despite that there was an almost palpable tension in the air. I have to find out why these people are so nervous, as it might impact our trip tomorrow.

Stopping at a small grocery stall, I made polite conversation with the proprietor while I shopped.

"Good evening mLady," I said to her, "would you happen to know what has everyone so nervous?"

She looked at me curiously for a moment, apparently shocked I didn't know the answer to the question already. Then she apparently decided that my grey traveling cloak meant that I was a visitor. "I've heard rumors of bandits in them hills o'er yonder," she told me, "them soldiers ain't seen no real combat before, and that makes us nervous, 'specially me; Two of 'em is mine."

Thanking her for her help, I paid for my food and started back to the inn.

Arriving back at the Jewel, I found the others already waiting for me. They had completely their tasks long before I did mine. Kate had found a place where we could discreetly buy horses without revealing we were Kohan. Jason had gone around and mostly done mundane things such as getting our tents and traveling clothes mended, purchasing water skins and the like.

Rachel had done the most significant work however. She had talked to some of the soldiers and believed she knew where the bandit's camp was. She claimed she had only asked so that we'd be able to avoid it, but we both knew each other too well for that. She knew I would do what I could to help these people, even if it meant delaying my meeting with Darius. Aside from that, I knew that she fully intended for us to wipe out the bandits, and that without their location I probably would have had us move on.

I sighed heavily when she told me what she had found, knowing what I had to do, even if I did not like it.

"This will delay our meeting and expose us but we cannot let these people be preyed upon if we can prevent it. However, Darius could move any day, so we must establish contact now." I looked around at my companions, my friends. "Caitlynn, I want you to recruit two soldiers. Each will carry a copy of a message from me to Darius." Sending two scouts with the message increased the chances of Darius receiving it exponentially, because if one was caught by something, be it bandits, beasts, or Ceyah, the other could still get through since they would travel separately.

"Rachel, if you had to guess, how many bandits would you say there were, and how many soldiers in the town?"

"From my conversations with the soldiers, I came up with numbers usually around a company. Also, from talking with some of the local hunters and farmers, the area they're camped in could not easily support much more than that. I'd say about a dozen bandits, with about a half-dozen margin of error, either way.

In the town, they have roughly two companies of actual trained soldiers, all good, skilled swordsmen. They're complemented by about double that of militia. I wouldn't count on them though; the kids have heart, but no experience and little training."

Before I could make any plans, I had to see if the town would choose to support our bandit-hunting actions.

"Caitlynn, go find us some messengers; we'll be bandit-hunting tomorrow whether the people help us or not. Rachel, Jason, we'll go speak to the town's leadership, and if they don't listen we'll plead our case directly to the people."

Leaving Caitlynn to her task, we began walking to the town hall. The whole way I was plagued by doubts and questions. Was I leading these people to the slaughter? I kept imagining worse and worse encounters with the bandits, and at one point I even imagined a dragon working with them.

Arriving at the town hall, I viciously thrust thoughts of failure out of my mind. After a little debate, we agreed that a dramatic entry would be best. Walking up to the door, I reached towards the door, intending to pound on it until someone answered. To my surprise, with my lightest touch the door swung open.

Instantly suspicious, I drew my mace; I had left my shield in my room, though I still wore my armor underneath my traveling cloak. I heard a slight rasping sound, which repeated itself an instant later, and knew that Jason had drawn his falchions. We walked into the hall quietly, slowly, with all senses straining to locate anything hostile. Keeping Rachel between us we moved into the great hall, and as our eyes adjusted we gradually saw shapes sitting in chairs around a large, circular table.

Almost as soon as I realized those were bodies, I felt a rush of air. As I whirled around to see what it was I saw smoke rising from a shimmering blue shield. Since there had been no explosion or other such noise, I knew it was the remnant of a dreadfire blast that Rachel had protected us from. I did not need to see the strain on her face that I knew would be there, but I did not think she'd be able to protect us a second time so soon, so I began marching deeper into the room.

Suddenly the lights in the room flared, and I was temporarily blinded. Though I crouched and threw up a quick guard, there was no attack to protect myself from.

Blinking quickly to clear my vision, I noticed three silhouettes. Two seemed to be slight of build, so I assumed them to be women. The third shape was enormous, and the huge, hulking shape had to be Vargus.

This threw me off quite a bit; Vargus was not one for such subtlety, which meant that one of the female shapes was probably Divsha; The cunning she-bitch loved plots such as these, mostly because they were less dangerous for her than a stand-up fight.

As my vision continued to clear I saw that my suspicions were confirmed, Vargus and Divsha indeed stood before me, but when I saw who the third shape was my very soul cringed. Known now as Shendra, she was once a promising officer in my own army until corrupted by Ahriman himself. She is one of few Royalist failures, and one I felt like a punch to the gut.

One of the reasons for this is because it had to have been her who just attacked us. She was a master of arcane magic, and a specialist in magical projectiles.

Summoning as much bravado as I could, I straightened and asked, "What are you doing here with these vermin Azura? Step away now, that I may slay them with a clean conscience."

"Do you really forget things so easily Javidan?" she asked me, "I am Shendra, and am no longer forced to follow your fool's orders. It is you who will be slain this day. Beloved of the people you may be, but they fool easily, and I am no longer enthralled by your lies. By the end of the day you will lie in an unmarked grave, and your followers will be left to think you abandoned them.

But we both know better, don't we Javidan? You could no more abandon the mortals and that fool Darius than you could kill your own wife."

"Do you really think we will let you leave here alive witch? Even with that beast behind you, you are no match for the three of us," I told her. "Your options are simple: surrender and be Cleansed, or be killed and be Cleansed...Your choice."

With that the beast, who had remained silent thus far, began snarling and growling at me. At that, Divsha laid a restraining hand upon his arm and whispered in his ear. He began to smile then, and I believe that frightened me more than any threat could.

He began stalking forward, readying his twin bone clubs as I cursed my thoughtlessness in leaving my shield in my room. Vowing never to leave it behind again, even if only to go to the bathroom, I readied my own mace and waited for the big thing's charge. Knowing that while I kept Vargus busy, Jason would take Divsha and Rachel would try and make Shendra's magic a non-factor until we could deal with her.

Screaming in bloodlust, Vargus charged at me. Blocking a downward swipe, I was forced to duck under the head-height shot that followed less than a second later from his other club. Blocking a swipe at my legs I spun away from a blow that would've fused my arm to my ribs, and probably killed me at that.

Knowing I couldn't survive much longer on the defensive, I made my move during his next swing; a right-handed swing, I parried his swing to the inside, continued my spin, and struck him square in the back. Without missing a beat, the beast whirled and struck me in my shield-hands shoulder; I heard bones crunching and knew my wound was grievous.

The beast's blow sent me reeling. I tried to turn my flight into a roll to control the fall, but succeeded only at landing on my injured arm. The pain from my landing nearly knocked me unconscious, but I managed to fight back the darkness closing over my vision.

It was a good thing I did. I rolled to the side just in time for Vargus' club to crush the tiles where I had been laying. Before I had even regained my footing, I swung for his leg, and connected solidly with his knee. The beast's howls told me that I had significantly damaged the limb, at the very least; I had probably broken his knee.

He fell to the ground, unable to support his massive weight with just one leg. My victory was nowhere near complete however, as I could not get off the ground myself, the pain was so great. Since I wasn't going anywhere, and neither was my opponent, I took the opportunity to look around.

I turned to Jason's battle just in time to see him roll under one of Divsha's swings, and slice open the back of her leg with a falchion, probably severing her hamstring. As she fell to the ground, Jason stood up. Unlike myself, he looked none the worse for wear. If Divsha had even scratched his armor, I was the Creator.

With one swift move he whirled and threw one of his falchions, which whistled just by my wife's head, continued going, and struck Shendra right in the chest; no longer under her control, the fireball she had been building blew up right in her face, blowing her back into the far wall. She slumped to the ground, obviously dead.

When I turned from that gruesome sight I did a quick double-take; both Divsha and Vargus, who should've been incapable of any real movement with their wounds, were gone. Oddly enough, there was not even a blood trail leading outside. It was like they just vanished.

Of course, even had they been in the room in plain view the only one of us who could've done anything would've been Jason. By this time my crushed arm had leaked so much blood that I could see dozens of tiny Vargus' dancing in circles around me. As for Rachel, she appeared completely exhausted from her magical battle with Shendra.

Knowing that it would be a little while before Rachel could heal me, Jason tied off a tourniquet at my shoulder to slow the bleeding, which should keep me alive until Rachel was a little bit more rested.

Jason dragged me over into a corner of the room and propped me up against the wall, then began to inspect what was left of the room. Shendra's aborted fireball had taken out chunks of both the roof and a wall, and through the wall Jason could see a company or so of soldiers moving cautiously towards the building. Their caution marked them as the veteran swordsmen Ray had told us about, and we only hoped we could talk our way out of this.

It would be very embarrassing upon my next awakening if I survived an assassination attempt only to be killed by allies who mistook me for a thief.


	8. Chapter 8

"**Jon's Tale" – Chapter Eight**

With the swordsmen fast approaching, I was confined to the corner Jason had put me in. Unable to move from both pain and loss of blood, I hoped Jason would be able to explain what happened without killing any of them first. We would need their help if we were to deal with the Ceyah, and they would probably be hesitant to work with us if a few of them were impaled upon Jason's swords. I knew the Ceyah were close by too. After this assassination attempt, I figured that the "bandits" were little more than an advance scouting party.

The Ceyah probably did not have the forces nearby to take the city by brute force alone. Their attack on the city leaders could have been designed to sow confusion and doubt, plunging the city's morale and making its conquest much easier.

I heard pounding then, and shouting, and figured the soldiers outside had just gotten to the door.

A few minutes later, Jason walked into the room with a rather large grin on his face. _I hope it's not cause by bloodlust._ Just a few steps behind him came a person who made my spirits soar; because I knew now that a fight erupting was unlikely.

"So, laid up again are we John?" Javin Shahin asked, "What was it this time, a rabid bunny?"

"Funny. If you must know we happened to run into your sister and some of her friends. They wanted to kill us, we didn't want to die, we argued about it….and your sister ended up as that black spot on the wall over there," I said with a chuckle. That chuckle quickly turned into a coughing spasm that involved blood, telling me that my wound was more serious than I had thought.

Javin quickly dropped to a knee, and yelled for someone to "Bring the Cleric!" He turned to Rachel, an inquisitive look on his face, and apparently judged that she was too exhausted to work more magic. Looking to one of his guards, he said, "Take her back to her room at the inn, and see to it that she is not disturbed. She needs her rest."

When they were gone I whispered (a whisper was all I could muster now, I had not the strength to talk louder) to Javin, "Thank you. I know it is painful for her to see me like this, and know that she can't do anything about it."

"There, there m'Lord, the cleric will be here soon and you will be fine," he told me.

"Lord?" I asked, "Since when did you become so formal Javin?"

"Just recently, when my liege lord was nearly assassinated in a town that is currently my responsibility."

"Javin, do you really think I blame you? Between your sister's magic and Divsha's cunning, it is small wonder that they got past your defenses."

My strength was fading fast; I couldn't even summon the strength to whisper.

Just when I though I would have to suffer another decade or so stuck in my amulet before someone could awaken me, the cleric and the messenger came charging back into the room.

The cleric wasted no time, magically taking stock of my injuries with a quick spell. The look on her face spoke wonders. She seemed amazed I was even still alive. Quickly recovering from her shock, she began weaving a recovery spell. For the second time in just a few days…._This kind of crap has GOT to _stop...the blue light overcame me, taking away both my pain and my consciousness.

"He was extremely lucky," the cleric said to Javin and Jason, "whatever hit him ruptured an artery; he should have bled to death."

Turning towards Jason, Javin asked, "These friends of my sister's, who were they?"

"Divsha...and Vargus."

"Vargus is here? This does not bode well for Ithica. Surely Vargus brought his army with him." Javin did a double-take all of a sudden, as if a thought had just occurred to him, and he looked at Jason curiously. "Why have you and John come here" I thought all that you two cared about was finding Darius, despite your brother having larger responsibilities."

Jason flushed guiltily, and appeared torn on how to answer. He finally settled on the truth. "We were just passing through. Our most recent intelligence puts an awakened Darius about a day's ride to the south. Well, at least our intention was to pass through. Once we heard about the town's bandit problem our plans changed. We came here to talk..." he slowly looked around at the charred corpses still sitting in chairs around the large table, "...to the city's leaders to propose a military action, though we did not know you were here." Jason returned the curious look, "Why are you here though? Last I heard you were running guerilla actions out of Council lands, what brings you all the way across the continent?"

Javin lost all his bluster, and slumped while standing. "The Ceyah crushed our operation," he said. "One of the mortals had to have given us up; the Ceyah knew we were coming and were waiting for us. We tried to fight our way free, but we lost so many. Ghalen Mordecai refused to run. I watched as Sijansur cut him down. I had to carry Naava Daishan after that, all the fight drained out of her. Amber Yasin was taken later. Hordes of shadelings appeared from nowhere, dragging her to where Vashti waited. I did not see what happened after, but I fear for her. Few of the mortals escaped, and of the Kohan, only Naava, Adellon Majere and I made it out alive, though we escaped with Ethan Delroba's amulet.

We were on the run after that. We decided to split up to raise our chances of getting away. We sent Ethan's amulet to Ravid Sakeri so he could eventually be awakened. We didn't tell each other where we would go, but I believe Adellon went north to the Gauri highlands. Knowing Naava, she probably tried to track where the Ceyah took Ghalen and Amber. She never gives up, but she's probably been captured by now. She's never been known to be subtle you know.

I trekked off to the west, skirting the Plains next to Haroun country. I got here about a week ago, like you I heard about the bandit problem and had to do something. So I spoke to the town's leaders, and began training troops in the hopes that they could defend themselves and I could keep moving.

Of course, now that John's back in charge, I expect that my days of ducking and hiding are nearly over."

"I can't speak for my brother," Jason said, "but I doubt the Royalists will do much more skulking around in the dark."

_My head is killing me._ I opened my eyes and once more looked around an empty room. It was obviously a recovery room. Devoid of any paintings, flowers, personally effects, and even color, it was stark in nature, the typical recovery room.

_I have got to quit doing this. Getting injured in every battle is no way to lead, and if I keep this up, Rachel will kill me._

_She must be worried sick._

_I wonder what happened to Javin._

_Are all the council members dead?_

These thoughts overwhelmed me, and drove me back into the dark.

­

Waking again, after Creator-knows how long, I felt much better. I was able to sort through some of the thoughts I'd had earlier.

Some worries I dismissed; surely Rachel was fine, as was Javin since he wasn't even involved in the battle.

Though it sounds callous, even in my own mind, the fate of the city council mattered little. Since nothing had been done about the bandits even though there were troops here, I blamed the inaction on the council.

With them out of the way, action could be taken to ensure the town's safety, as well as providing a base of operations while Darius got back to form.

Slowly getting out of the bed, a quick chill alerted me to the fact that I was stark naked. Flushing with embarrassment from not noticing this earlier, I found a thin shirt and some breeches lying on a chair.

Dressing quickly, I was aware of a tingle in my left arm, the only after-effect of my wound.

I left the room, emerging into sunlight where I expected a hallway. Apparently I had been in a room at the inn, not a proper recover room like I thought.

As I walked out, a young man standing next to the door snapped to attention. Obviously nervous, it took the boy a minute to remember to tell me that Javin and my friends were waiting back at the town hall for me.

Crossing the town on my way to the hall, I noticed several things. First, the town was not nearly as frightened as I expected. A midnight attack by Ceyah that ended with dead leaders certainly should have these people scared, yet they were outside, laughing, and seemed not worried in the least.

Secondly, the people I saw all seemed to move with purpose. When I saw them the other day..._How long was I out..._they seemed to move listlessly, as if they didn't believe what they were doing needed to be done. Now everywhere I looked there was hustle and bustle.

I passed a large field where a militia captain was drilling his men relentlessly. As I passed them they all stopped and snapped to attention when they saw me, including the captain. They had a fire in their eyes that had not been there previously.

_What in the Creator's name did Jason do while I was out?_

I walked into the town hall and was immediately shocked by what I saw. The great round table where the council had met was gone; in its place were numerous smaller tables, with maps and parchments strewn all about. Captains hovered over maps, sometimes arguing, sometimes just staring hard at the maps, trying to will the information to change. It was chaos; the chaos of war.


End file.
